No ledge for knowledge

 We looked at the limitations of online directories and compared them to encyclopedias and dictionaries. What was the situation when we were all offline 24/7? I use the comparison between the Massey Harris and Massey Ferguson, the latter being a tractor we had on the farm but from Grandad's time more than Dad's who moved to Case and then Steiger - yes, the bigger and bigger approach which has had its problems in other places but we kept our shelter belts and dams.

If I was really curious about differences, since I was driving tractors twelve hours a day at times, the paternal part of the fa(r)mily would tell me that there'd been a name change because of new owner/partnership and left it at that. I might have got a dusty old leaflet from the dealer and see how the specifications matched or been prepared to waste valuable time scouring the local library to see if it had been covered by the rural magazines. The first probably threw out manuals for obsolete models and, if I had been dropped off at the library, I would have gone for reading material that had my interest rather than something that would satisfy a fleeting curiosity in what we did for a living.

Nowadays I would come armed with the knowledge as to which journals held the appropriate article and where they were located but also the likelihood that I could get what I want from a quick search.